Timer to Enable/Disable a USB port in Windows?

Question

I have a large multitouch screen that's connected to a windows computer. It is connected to the computer by Firewire, USB, and DVI for various signals. If you unplug any of those connections, the screen turns off. Is there any way to enable/disable a USB, Firewire, or DVI port on a schedule so I can have the screen automatically turn on or off at a certain time each day? I've searched around and I saw a good example in Linux, but not Windows. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer 1

You would need to do a bit of work with task scheduler, or using some other automation means to achieve what you want, but it is possible. Being a programmer, I would just go ahead and write up a quick .NET applicating using Quartz.NET to do it, but for a normal user, one could consider the following Microsoft KB article, and utility:

Microsoft DevCon Utility; basically a command line integration for the device manager on a windows computer. Allows you to disable/enable, and work with devices on the system.

Microsoft KB 311272

Arguments to Disable: "disable USBCDROM*"
Arguments to Enable: "enable USBCDROM*"

You would simply replace the proper CDROM part with the actual name of the USB device, which can usually be found within the Registry settings for the installed device, or Device Information, or even using DevCon to list the attached devices.